Pulitzer Prize-winner Carl Sagan imagines the greatest adventure of all... the discovery of an advanced civilization in the depths of space. December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who-- or what-- is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predict its future-- and our own.
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It is December 1999, the dawn of the millennium, and a team of international scientists is poised for the most fantastic adventure in human history. After years of scanning the galaxy for signs of somebody or something else, this team believes they've found a message from an intelligent source--and they travel deep into space to meet it. Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan injects Contact, his prophetic adventure story, with scientific details that make it utterly believable. It is a Cold War era novel that parlays the nuclear paranoia of the time into exquisitely wrought tension among the various countries involved. Sagan meditates on science, religion, and government--the elements that define society--and looks to their impact on and role in the future. His ability to pack an exciting read with such rich content is an unusual talent that makes Contact a modern sci-fi classic.
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From Publishers Weekly
Who could be better qualified than the author of the highly successful Cosmos to turn the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, and humankind's first contact with it, into imaginative reality? This is precisely what Sagan does in this eagerly awaited and, as it turns out, engrossing first novel. The basic plot is very simple. A worldwide system of radio telescopes, in the charge of brilliant astrophysicist Ellie Arroway, picks up a "Message" from outer space. Ellie is instrumental in decoding the message and building the "Machine" for which it gives instructions (despite stiff opposition from religious fundamentalists and those scientists and politicians who fear it may be a Trojan Horse). Then she and fellow members of a small multinational team board the machine, take a startling trip into outer spaceand on their return must convince the scientific community that they are not the perpetrators of a hoax. Sagan's characters, mostly scientists, are credible without being memorable, and he supplies a love interest that is less than compelling. However, his informed and dramatically enacted speculations into the mysteries of the universe, taken to the point where science and religion touch, make his story an exciting intellectual adventure and science fiction of a high order. First serial to Discover Magazine; BOMC selection. Foreign rights: S & S. October 1
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Audio Cassette
Carl Sagan was a wonder and this abridged audio version of Contact is the only version I've ever gone through. I saw the film, but never read any of his other books. I've since ordered them all. Amazing.
Wow. I literally didn't want to get out of my car. As good as Jodie Foster was in the film, her audio read was remarkable. She really is as good as they get on screen and in my car stereo. Her talent was to convey the wonder of the book and make me care about the issues and she really delivers.
If you are thinking about buying this, you won't regret it. The only regret you may feel is that Carl is now gone and there won't be any more of his wonderfully educating stories.
By Veloci86
Format:Mass Market Paperback
While taking care to keep the fantastical adventure scientifically sound, Sagan seems to have given into his didactic nature. The book is a novel in the sense that it focuses on the central characters' thoughts, feelings, and experiences, but it is also an examination of human culture and philosophy. Fascinating . . . it will provide enlightenment for all future generations.
By J. McAndrew
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Sagan had the knack of getting his humanistic point of view out without being offensive to the general populace. He was also a great explainer of scientific ideas in a simple way, to make it easy to understand and interesting. I wish he would have lived longer so he could've written more novels. I think novel writing could have been his best skill. He died too young.
Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown Eyed Boy"
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
The film is better....and I didn't like the film.
Was totally disappointed with the book. Carl Sagan spends too much time on unimportant details (probably using it as filler)and very little on the main story. Read more
Published on May 13 2011 by peppe51
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Novel; Failed Political Point
"Contact" is the story of one Dr. Eleanor Arroway, a radio astronomer whose work is responsible for Earth's first contact with an extraterrestrial species. From the start, Dr. Read more
Published on July 8 2004 by Kurt M. Weber
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of My All-Time Favorite Sci-Fi Books
I would never have guessed that Sagan, a hardheaded, agnostic, scientific type would have in him a book with such a fine sense of character development and emotional pitch. Read more
Published on April 30 2004 by Mark H. Drought
5.0 out of 5 stars
versions, history
Let me start with a few key points about the book, the movie, and the original screen treatment which precedes both.
"Contact" (the film) is NOT an adaptation. Read more
Published on April 29 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Science Fiction as a Religious Experience
CONTACT is a novel about the global reception of a message from space. Radio observatories around the world pick up the length-repeating signal and manage to piece the whole thing... Read more
Published on April 23 2004 by Joshua Koppel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Message from the Heaven? Message from God?
We meet Ellie Arroway as a child whose father dies. She marvels at the wonder of radio, notably the "clear mathematical precision of radio waves. Read more
Published on April 15 2004 by Ted Magnuson
4.0 out of 5 stars
First Half: ok------Second Half: better!
The classic science fiction theme of humanities' first brush with alien intelligence occupies center stage in Sagan's adequate, but not artful, novel. Read more
Published on Feb 16 2004 by "thejrl"
3.0 out of 5 stars
very disimilar to the movie!
rating 3.5
I have to admit that I enjoyed the movie. I think it is a quite provactive work, from anything more than a simplistic analysis anyway. Read more
Published on Jan 10 2004 by Patrick Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Greatest SF Novel ever written
If you haven't yet read this novel by Carl Sagan, then immediately PUT DOWN what you are doing and start reading one of the greatest books I've ever read. Read more
Published on Jan 9 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
both mind bending and moving
I have been a fan of the movie since it came out in 1997, but everyone who has read the book told me that it is far better than the film. And I agree. Read more
Published on Dec 18 2003
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